The trail's southern terminus is on Flagg Mountain, near Weogufka, Alabama, the southernmost peak in the state that rises over 1,000 feet (300 m).

The trail's highest point is Buddy Cove Gap, with an elevation of 3164 feet near the Cohutta Wilderness.

He hoped to spark a "back to the land" movement to relieve the ills of urban industrial life."

This plan showed a main trail running from Cohutta Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

The U.S. Forest Service and Alabama's Forever Wild land trust aided in the acquisition of major wilderness tracts.